SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga's Gabriel Hughes was named a First Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball on Thursday. Hughes becomes Gonzaga's first Collegiate Baseball First Team All-American since Nate Gold in 2002.
Hughes is sixth in the nation with 131 strikeouts this season and has won 11 out of the 14 games he has started so far. He was named the WCC Pitcher of the Week three times this year, which leads the conference.
Ironically, Hughes did not win the WCC's Pitcher of the Year award a few weeks ago. He beat out that award winner, Portland's Brett Gillis, for the first team honor. Gillis was named a Second Team All-American.
Hughes is up for the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the best player in college baseball regardless of division. He is currently a semifinalist for that honor.
This marks the second straight year a Gonzaga player has been named a Collegiate Baseball All-American and Spokane native Alek Jacob landed on the second team last year and third baseman Brett Harris earned a third team nod.
Hughes is slated to be a first round pick in the MLB Draft in July. On Wednesday, ESPN's mock draft had Hughes going 13th. A week ago, MLB Pipeline had Hughes going 20th.
Gonzaga plays in the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 10 AM against regional #3 seed Columbia on ESPN+. The Zags earned the regional's #2 seed. If Gonzaga were to win that game, it's anticipated they will play against host Virginia Tech, who earned a #4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. That game would take place on Saturday with a time being TBA.